Zim Online
Zimbabwe silent on SA loan
Thu 15 September
2005
JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe has not engaged South Africa over
financial
assistance since apparently finding an alternative source of help,
a top
Pretoria official said on Wednesday.
South African
government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe told the Press
that Pretoria remained
keen to give the US$500 million to Harare to help it
pay off International
Monetary Fund (IMF) debts and buy critically needed
food and
fuel.
But he said President Robert Mugabe's government has not
bothered to
come back to Pretoria for the money since making a surprise
US$120 million
payment to the IMF at the end of August.
Mugabe's government, which was last Friday given six months by the IMF
board
to clear off an outstanding US$175 million, claims it raised the money
it
used to reduce arrears with the Fund from its own
resources.
But observers say Zimbabwe, which has
had no meaningful foreign
currency reserves for the last six years, could
only have been given the
money by an as yet unknown ally.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the money could have come from China a
long time
ally of Mugabe's government from the days when the veteran leader
led
Zimbabwe's independence struggle. Other reports claim the money was
provided
by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that
Mugabe helped
fight off an armed rebellion three years ago.
Although Netshitenzhe
said South Africa never sought to use the loan
offer to secure "leverage
over Zimbabwe" officials in Pretoria privately
admitted the regional
powerhouse that has been trying to broker a solution
to Zimbabwe's crisis
might find it even harder to exert pressure on Harare
if Mugabe's government
found alternative sources of help.
Pretoria is understood to have
demanded that Mugabe resumes dialogue
with the opposition to find a lasting
solution to Zimbabwe's crisis before
money could be given to his government,
a condition the Zimbabwean leader
publicly rejected.
Mugabe
says he would rather talk to British Premier Tony Blair who he
says is the
principal behind opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his
Movement for
Democratic Change party.
Zimbabwe, which is battling its worst ever
economic crisis, wants
foreign currency to import fuel, food, electricity,
essential medical drugs
among other basic survival commodities. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
National Parks boss accused of diverting fuel to his
farm
Thu 15 September 2005
HWANGE - Wildlife in Zimbabwe's giant
Hwange National Park could die
because of lack of drinking water after a
senior government official
allegedly diverted to his farm fuel meant for
pumping water to the park,
local conservationists warned on
Wednesday.
Hwange, situated in the hot and arid north-west of the
country, is
Zimbabwe's biggest wildlife sanctuary boasting a large variety
of wild
animals including elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, rhinos and
giraffes.
A senior official of the non-governmental Zimbabwe
Conservation Task
Force, Johnny Rodrigues, said some of the less resistant
animal species in
the park were already on the "verge of death" because
there is no water.
He said: "The department (government's National
Parks and Wildlife
department) has been failing to pump adequate water to
the pans and animals
are virtually on the verge of death. We have reported
the matter to the
provincial parks authorities and we await their
response."
According to Rodrigues, the water problem began after
Cephas Mudenda,
who is the second in command at National Parks' Sinamatela
Camp in Hwange,
allegedly diverted for personal use more than 1 000 litres
of diesel that
was meant for water pumping engines.
Fuel is in
critical short supply in Zimbabwe because there is no hard
cash to pay
foreign suppliers.
Mudenda, who is also a brother to local ruling ZANU
PF party stalwart,
Jacob Mudenda, is said to have taken the diesel to power
tractors at his
farm in Dete near Hwange.
"We have since learnt
that fuel supplied by the Parks department . . .
was diverted for personal
use by a brother of ZANU PF leader Jacob Mudenda,"
Rodrigues
said.
But Medenda vehemently denied hijacking fuel from the park.
He said:
"I do not know anything about fuel being diverted to my farm and I
have no
access to fuel allocations, which are done at Hwange Main
Camp."
It was not possible to immediately get comment on the matter
from
Environment and Tourism Minister, Francis Nhema, under whose portfolio
the
wildlife department falls.
Zimbabwe's once booming tourism
sector is on a free-fall after hordes
of self-styled veterans of the
country's 1970s independence war invaded
white-owned commercial farms and
conservancies in the past five years in a
campaign defended by President
Robert Mugabe as a "genuine demonstration of
land hunger."
Mugabe followed up the farm invasions months later with his
controversial
programme to seize land from white farmers and giving it over
to landless
blacks.
The war veterans and the black peasants were allowed by the
government
to move onto former white-owned conservancies where they killed
most of the
wildlife there mainly for food. - ZimOnline
SABC
Zimbabwe may dump SA as financial source
September 14, 2005,
18:15
Zimbabwe has paid half the amount of money it owes to the
International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and cabinet today welcomed the
achievement. The IMF has
now given Zimbabwe a six months grace to pay
up.
However, since they have paid half their dues to the IMF, no further
talks
of a loan from South Africa have taken place. The Cabinet's
spokesperson
confirmed that the South African government had not engaged
with its
neighbour since Harare found alternative financial assistance at
the end of
last month.
Analysts have suggested that South Africa
might lose leverage over the
Zimbabwean government as Zimbabwe may well be
looking for alternative
sources of funding.
Other sources may be
approached
Zimbabwe could turn to sources with less stringent conditions than
the ones
believed to have been imposed by South Africa. Joel Netshitenzhe,
the head
of government communications, says they have never sought to have
any
leverage over Zimbabwe, what they have sought to do is to provide such
assistance, as they may require.
Netshitenzhe said South Africa
remained keen to assist in Zimbabwe's
economic recovery, as well as the
normalisation of their political
situation, in that country.
The Guardian
Wednesday September 14 2005
Award for the
Zimbabwean
By Jon Dennis / World news 05:06pm
Congratulations to the
Zimbabwean, which has won an award for innovation in
the 2005 Highway Africa
awards for innovative use of new media in Africa.
Last night's award
ceremony was televised live across the continent by SABC
Africa.
The
Zimbabwean's publisher, Wilf Mbanga, whose Daily News was closed down by
Robert Mugabe's regime in 2003, said he was delighted to have won the award
just eight months after launching the paper. He thanked "our African
colleagues" for their recognition and paid tribute to the Zimbabwean's
contributors - refugees living all over the world who work free of
charge.
Mbanga also thanked the Guardian and Kitsite for their help in
designing the
Zimbabwean's website.
Court ruling may herald financial sector turmoil
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 14
Sep 2005 (IRIN) - A court ruling that the state-controlled
Zimbabwe Allied
Banking Group (ZABG), an amalgamation of three failed
commercial banks,
acquired its assets illegally could lead to chaos in the
country's financial
sector, an economist told IRIN.
Last year the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) closed down the Trust, Royal
and Barbican banks, and subsequently
amalgamated them into the ZAGB under
stewardship of the RBZ. The move was
aimed at stabilising the financial
sector after the collapse of several
commercial banks as a result of
mismanagement and the contracting
economy.
This week lawyers acting for private shareholders of the failed
commercial
banks won a court ruling against the amalgamation, and analysts
warned that
the ZABG might collapse, sparking further chaos in the country's
already
fragile financial sector.
Economist Dennis Nikisi told IRIN
that should the ZABG collapse, "it would
be disastrous because government
departments, parastatals and major
corporates maintain accounts with the
ZABG".
"Its closure would result in major problems in terms of working
capital
being locked in, etc ... it would have a ripple effect on the
operational
capacity of companies, parastatals and government departments
banking with
ZABG," he explained.
There had already been a "small
run" on the bank, with private depositors
withdrawing their cash because
they feared that a collapse would wipe out
their savings, but Nikisi
commented that these were "small depositors".
Due to the importance of
the ZABG, the government was likely to ensure the
banking group's continued
existence, "even if it means going back to
parliament to promulgate a new
law", he said.
Although the court ruled that the amalgamation of assets
was not legal, it
failed to make a determination on whether the assets of
the failed
commercial banks should be returned to their
shareholders.
"With the ruling being vague, it clouds the issue - ZABG
was not ordered to
return the assets, which makes ZABG a going concern, so
they remain
amalgamated," Nikisi noted.
The ruling opened the way for
further court petitions to have the assets of
the failed commercial banks
returned to their shareholders, he pointed out,
but the overriding concern
of the government would be that "ZABG needs to
remain afloat in order to
maintain financial sector stability".
Should another court ruling
threaten the viability of the ZABG, "government
can simply go back to
parliament with new legislation to make sure that ZABG
remains a legally
operating entity", Nikisi said, citing a precedent set
during the country's
fast-track land reform programme.
"Government felt the courts were
delaying the state's acquisition of
agricultural land," Nikisi noted, "so
they simply went to parliament and
enacted legislation to legalise
government's acquisition of farms."
[ENDS]
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Farming experts summoned, questioned over
prediction
Clemence Manyukwe
issue date :2005-Sep-15
THE
President's Office last Wednesday summoned farming experts and
questioned
them on their prediction that the country's 2005 - 2006
agricultural season
will be grim because of poor planning and unavailability
of inputs. Ray
Ndhlukula - the deputy chief secretary to the President and
Cabinet -
summoned the experts a day after they told the Parliamentary
Portfolio
Committee on Lands and Agriculture that the agricultural season
would be
disastrous.
Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity, Bright Matonga
confirmed that
the experts were called to the President's Office and met
Ndhlukula and
other senior government officials.
He described the meeting
as a routine one on "what needs to be done as a
matter of urgency" in
agriculture.
"It was a routine meeting to update the government on what needs
to be done
as a matter of urgency. What needs to be done when and how? We
needed to
know what is the best way forward through utilising their skills
and
presence on the ground," Matonga said. He added that the meeting was not
a
reaction to the Parliamentary meeting, adding the government "does not
operate on reactions".
Chairman of the Zimbabwe Seed Traders Association
Temba Nkatazo confirmed
that they were called to the President's
Office.
"We were summoned to the President's Office on the state of
preparedness (to
the coming season). It was like a follow-up meeting to the
one we had at
Parliament. The issues were the same," Nkatazo
said.
Vice-president of the Agricultural Dealers and Manufacturers
Association
(ADMA) Walter Chigwada also confirmed attending the meeting,
adding that it
was a follow-up to their recommendations to various
ministries connected
with agriculture.
"Basically, the officials wanted
to confirm what was discussed at the
portfolio committee and we told them
the same thing; we do not have discs
for the coming agricultural season,"
Chigwada said.
The vice-president of the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (ZFU) Edward
Raradza said
among the issues discussed was that of shortage of
inputs.
"The agenda was a carryover from the meeting we had at Parliament. We
discussed the issue of the shortage of foreign currency," Raradza
said.
Last Tuesday, producers of seed, fertiliser, chemicals and farming
equipment
told the parliamentary committee that the agricultural sector was
badly
managed and complained of poor working relations with the Ministry of
Agriculture.
The experts said militating against their efforts was the
late release of
agricultural funds and shortage of inputs.
As an example,
they said, the country required 51 000 tonnes of hybrid seeds
but at the
moment there were only 26 000 tonnes available.
An official from fertiliser
company, Windmill said they had technically run
out of stocks as the ones
they had in stock had been already bought and were
awaiting
collection.
Fertiliser companies also complained that they were not given
priority in
the allocation of foreign currency.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Joint ventures fail to take off
Shame
Makoshori
issue date :2005-Sep-15
LOCAL companies have failed to
secure critical joint ventures with foreign
companies, dealing a heavy blow
to their efforts to bring in fresh capital
injections to resuscitate
declining production levels, the Business Mirror
has established. Zimbabwe
Investment Centre (ZIC) sources yesterday said
foreign companies were
hesitant to throw themselves into such deals citing
the volatile macro
economic environment.
The sources said foreign companies were not sure if
they would be able to
recover capital expenditure in light of the
deteriorating economic
environment characterised by fuel shortages, rising
production costs and
persistent inflationary pressures.
This newspaper
understands that at least 10 companies have appealed, through
the ZIC for
foreign investment partners to take up stakes and boost their
viability.
The ZIC has been helping the companies to link up with foreign
partners
since January this year but no takers have come up.
"Just like
in general Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) it has not been easy
finding
foreign partners for companies because Zimbabwe is still viewed as a
high
risk investment destination where even multinationals are closing down.
"Most
investment proposals that we are receiving are in the retail sector,
this is
not a high risk sector," the ZIC official said.
ZIC executive director (CEO)
Richard Mbaiwa confirmed yesterday that the bad
publicity and volatile
economic environment in the country had dispelled
potential foreign
investment partners.
Among the companies that have been pursuing offshore
capital injections
since the beginning of the year include leading
agro-chemicals manufacturer,
Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries (Zimphos) which
is currently facing problems
and is struggling to meet growing market demand
for agricultural chemicals.
Brick producer and wall constructor, Newstream
Bricks and Walling is seeking
partners to take up 30 percent equity in the
business through the injection
of US$50 000.
Another company, Honey and
Water Investments, a diversified concern with
interests in gold and
tantalite mining is also in the hunt for both local
and foreign investors
who are expected to take up 50 percent shareholding.
Various other companies
have been lining up for working capital injections
ranging between US$50 000
and US$57.5 million.
Government-backed financial lifelines channelled through
the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) and the Zimbabwe Development Bank (ZDB)
have failed to plug
the gap created by economic problems.
Last year, the
RBZ provided more than $2 trillion under the Productive
Sector Facility
(PSF) for distressed companies while the Ministry of
Industry and
International Trade also provided more that $200 billion under
the
Distressed Companies facility.
The Ministry of Industry and International
Trade said the financial
facilities would be used for such programmes as
recapitalisation and the
refurbishment of machinery, acquisition of capital
goods and working capital
requirements but these were overwhelmed by
applications from distressed
firms.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Kuruneri too ill to stand trial
Fortune
Mbele
issue date :2005-Sep-15
THE High Court yesterday postponed
indefinitely the trial of former finance
minister Chris Kuruneri after a
doctor recommended that his poor health did
not allow him to stand trial for
at least three months. Justice Susan
Mavangira postponed Kuruneri's trial in
his absence after his lawyer
Jonathan Samukange produced a letter from eye
specialist, Dr Solomon
Guramatunhu, on the state of the former Mazowe West
legislator's health.
Kuruneri is on trial for allegedly externalising large
sums of foreign
currency.
Guramatunhu's letter, dated September 13 2005,
read: "I certify that I have
examined this patient who complained of the
deterioration of vision and
severe episodes of pain on the side of the head
and face.
"He has very severe neuralgia, which is episodic. These episodes
may last
for several months. I would advise that he rests at home for the
next three
months until further review. He is most unlikely to be functional
when he
has this attack."
Prosecutor Joseph Jagada told the court that he
had seen Guramatunhu's
letter and had no objection to the eye specialist's
request that Kuruneri be
granted a three-month postponement to
recuperate.
Jagada added that although it was visibly clear during Kuruneri's
previous
court appearance that he was ill, he would as a matter of procedure
arrange
for a government specialist to also examine him.
This would allow
the court to come up with a balanced view of the accused's
health
status.
"I have seen the letter and under these circumstances there is
nothing that
we can do. I think we will have the services of a government
specialist to
examine him so that we have a balanced view. What we suggest,
given the
recommendation is that he rests for another three months. We
further
recommend that the matter be postponed sine die (indefinitely),"
Jagada
said.
He added that the matter would be postponed to the next
session of the High
Court next year.
Mavangira then granted the
postponement.
Meanwhile, Samukange yesterday applied for leave to appeal to
the Supreme
Court against Mavangira's refusal to recuse herself on the
grounds that she
was biased.
Samukange argued that it was improper for
either the State or the defence to
respond to an application for
recusal.
He argued that in making submissions in his application for the
judge's
recusal, the State had not assisted Mavangira in making a judgment,
but had
defended her.
"The application is based in particular on whether
the State or defence is
entitled to respond and then defend a judge or
magistrate in an application
for recusal. It is my respectful submission
that the application be allowed
and since the matter is going to be
postponed, it will not prejudice
anyone," Samukange argued.
Last week,
Kuruneri applied for Mavangira to distance herself from the case,
arguing
she was biased and that he would not get a fair trial.
However, Mavangira
threw out the application on Monday, ruling that issues
raised by the
defence did not, in any way, indicate that she was biased.
Mavangira said she
would continue handling the matter without fear or
favour.
Yesterday,
Jagada said he was not prepared to respond to the application
for leave to
appeal, as he had not been informed that such a submission
would be
made.
Jagada will respond to the application today.
The State is alleging
that Kuruneri contravened the Exchange Control Act
between February 2002 and
April 2004 at Harare International Airport when he
exported US$582 611,99,
34 471 British pounds and 30 000 Euros to South
Africa.
Alternatively, he
is being charged for allegedly smuggling the said money in
contravention of
provisions of the Customs and Excise
Act.
On another count, Kuruneri is
being charged with exporting R1 314 102, 92
from Zimbabwe to South Africa,
where it was deposited into his ABSA Bank
account.
Kuruneri is
alternatively being charged with flouting sections of the
Customs and Excise
Act for smuggling the said amounts of foreign
currency.
On the fourth
count, he is accused of making payments outside the country
without the
authority of the central
bank.
Allegations against him are that on March 6
2002, Kuruneri "caused" the
Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe to telegraphically
transfer R5, 2 million with
First National Bank of South Africa.
The
money, the State contended, was payment for the purchase of a house in
the
plush Llandudno suburb in Cape Town by Kuruneri.
Kuruneri, the State alleged,
on April 22 2002 made a R2,7 million payment
for another house in the same
suburb without the authority of the RBZ.
On the sixth count, Kuruneri is
again accused of paying R2,5 million for the
purchase of Unit B Ocean View,
Sea Point, without the authority of the
central bank.
On the last count,
Kuruneri on February 3 2004 allegedly made payment of
R547 743 to Mercedes
Benz, Claremont, Cape Town, to purchase a Mercedes Benz
ML 350, again
without the authority of the
RBZ.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of
contravening the Citizenship Act after he
was found in possession of a
Canadian passport and awaits sentence at the
end of the externalisation
trial.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Company to maintain Falls Bridge
issue
date :2005-Sep-15
EMERGENCY Railway Properties (ERP) - a joint company
formed by the National
Railway of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and the Zambia Railways
(ZR) - says it will
continue maintaining the Victoria Falls Bridge to avoid
its collapse amid
fears it had developed cracks. The ERP manages the bridge
which links
Zimbabwe with its northern neighbour, and experts have indicated
that if
properly maintained the structure's life span could be extended by
another
century.
Speaking at the 100-year commemoration of the bridge's
existence at the
weekend in the tourist resort, ERP Zambian representative
Knox Karima, said
there was need for the firm to constantly check on the
bridge's strength
given concerns raised by engineering experts that it may
collapse.
"As ERP we have received numerous alert calls on the strength of
the bridge.
We have been informed of the cracks that have since developed in
the bridge
and we have instituted assessments into the strength of the
bridge," Karima
said.
"However, it is important to note that our
assessments have proved that the
bridge is still reasonably strong and can
last for another 100 years if we
are to keep maintaining the bridge
properly."
He noted that preliminary maintenance work had started.
"We are
hopeful that this bridge will continue to play its role in the
economic
emancipation of the Southern African region as well as enhance
trade between
Zimbabwe and Zambia. On our part as ERP we will do all we can
to make sure
that the bridge is kept strong," Karima said. News about the
possible
collapse of the bridge, he said, would impact negatively on
business and
investment in the sub-region.
Matabeleland North Governor and Resident
Minister Sithokozile Mathuthu said
there was need for ERP to continuously
invest in the maintenance and proper
upkeep of the bridge, which also hosts
popular tourist water sports, such
bungee jumping.
"I am informed that
you have continued your assessment on the strength of
the bridge. I am also
informed that the latest assessment tests have proved
that the Victoria
Falls Bridge still has a further 100 years life span,"
Mathuthu said. "I
believe this is no mean achievement and [...ends]
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
CMED officials probed over $10bn fuel
scam
From Our Correspondent in Mutare
issue date
:2005-Sep-15
POLICE in Chimanimani are investigating three CMED (Pvt)
Limited officials
in connection with the theft of over one million litres of
fuel valued at
$10 billion last week. The officer-in-charge of Chimanimani
Police, an
Inspector Ruzvidzo, confirmed the probe, but declined to give
details saying
that doing so could jeopardise investigations.
"We are
still investigating the case and at the moment I cannot divulge any
details," Ruzvidzo said.
Sources at CMED said the three officials based
at Ngangu Depot stole 1,2
million litres of diesel and 1 000 litres of
petrol between August and the
first week of this month for sale to desperate
motorists.The three allegedly
smuggled the fuel out of the depot in drums on
the pretext that they would
be supplying it to government vehicles in the
district.
"The parastatal was swindled of fuel valued at over $10 billion at
the old
public pump price of $10 000 and $9 600 per litre for petrol and
diesel
respectively by the three officials," the sources said. "The fuel was
sold
on the black market."A litre of petrol or diesel is sold at around $70
000
on the black market, as the country's petroleum shortages continue due
to
lack of foreign currency to import the product.
News24
Zim homeless get food aid
14/09/2005 20:49 -
(SA)
Johannesburg - After a six-week delay, Zimbabwean families
displaced by
Operation Murambatsvina (Drive out the Trash) will now receive
relief with
37 tons of food and nearly 5 000 blankets having arrived in the
country.
The SA Council of Churches (SACC) said: "The last of the
supplies arrived on
Monday... after being delayed by six weeks due to
agricultural and customs
restrictions."
Zimbabwe's Christian Care
would now work through Zimbabwe's churches to
distribute the relief to
families that had been scattered by the forced
removals.
The
statement from the SACC said Christian Care expressed thanks for the
council's "efforts and resilience" in pursuing the documentation required by
the Zimbabwean government.
As a result of these obstacles, Christian
care had suggested future relief
supplies be procured within Zimbabwe, with
only goods unobtainable in the
country being imported.
RedNova
Zimbabwe Considers Importing Crude Oil to Meet Fuel
Crisis
Zimbabwe considers importing crude oil to meet fuel
crisis
HARARE, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwean government is
considering
importing crude oil and refine it in the country in a bid to
resolve the
fuel problem and meet the increasing demand for the
commodity.
The Minister of Energy and Power Development, Michael
Nyambuya, was quoted
on Tuesday by Chronicle as saying that the option was
under consideration
since it would be cheaper to import crude oil.
He
said the government has decided to explore the crude refining option as
ample evidence showed that it was cheaper to purchase crude oil and arrange
for its refining.
The Minister also noted that fuel consumption
continued to increase, with
demand for diesel rising from 2.5 million liters
to 3.5 million liters,
while demand for petrol had risen from two million
liters to three million
liters a day.
He said the government was also
diversifying sources of fuel due to
escalating oil prices on the
international markets.
In this regard, he said, extraction of oil from
coal and biofuels take
center stage, since the technology already exists and
Zimbabwe would adopt
these technologies to the advantage of the
country.
With regard to biofuels, Nyambuya said, the government has
decided that
blending petrol with ethanol be resuscitated and that the
country must
produce biodiesel, which would contribute to 20 percent of the
country's
fuel requirements.
Source: Xinhua News Agency -
CEIS
IOL
Loan for Mugabe 'will not deprive SA people' Sheena
Adams
September 14 2005 at 11:11AM
Deputy President
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said that should a loan be
granted to Zimbabwe, it
would not have an impact on our own budget or the
delivery of
services.
Speaking in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday,
she said it
was "incorrect and misleading" to assume that South Africa's
intention to
help Zimbabwe meant the needs of Zimbabweans were more
important than those
of South Africans.
"We want to contribute
to the resolution of the challenges that
country is facing and also to
protect South Africa and the people of
Zimbabwe from the consequences that
can result from the collapse of the
Zimbabwean economy," she
said.
South Africa's priorities as contained in the Medium Term
Expenditure
Framework remained fixed "and will not be amended or
re-prioritised".
Mlambo-Ngcuka said South Africa had not yet agreed
to a loan and that
the figure of R1-billion was inaccurate. She reiterated
that the cabinet
felt that any assistance should benefit the Zimbabwean
people and be part of
an economic recovery and political normalisation
programme.
"If the situation were to be worse in Zimbabwe, it would
be worse in
South Africa," Mlambo-Ngcuka warned.
..
This article was originally published on page 2 of Cape Argus
on September
14, 2005
Education ministry reverses decision on school fees after MDC
interference
By Tererai Karimakwenda
14 September
2005
MDC MP Fidelis Mhashu, who is on the parliamentary
committee on
education, reports that because of his interference, the
ministry of
education has decided not to backdate the recent increase in
school fees
back to January. There was an angry response from parents when
the minister
of education announced a 300% increase in fees earlier this
year. No-one
seemed to know just when this new fee structure would come into
effect. Some
schools backdated it to January, and others said they would
start it when
the new term began in September.
After making
a presentation in parliament on behalf of the education
committee and the
many parents against backdating the new fees, MP Mhashu
said the minister
Aeneas Chigwedere decided the new fees would start in
September.
There is also a very controversial Education
Amendment bill that is
due to be tabled in parliament after having gone
through the first reading.
The bill seeks to empower the education minister
to determine the fee
structures for all schools, decide on the uniforms and
regulate all matters
relating to teachers and the organisations that
represent them. The
parliamentary education committee held a public hearing
at which most
contributors said they were opposed to it entirely. They
favoured an
overhaul of the entire education system in Zimbabwe after
consulting
stakeholders around the country.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
ZANU-PF officials implicated in illegal trophy hunting scams
By
Tererai Karimakwenda
14 September 2005
Several ZANU-PF
officials have been implicated in illegal hunting
activities that involve
fake names and permits, and the killing of animals
in protected areas.
Investigations have so far identified 4 senior officials
of the ruling party
and their associates who allegedly aided local and
foreign trophy poachers
to loot wildlife in the Intensive Conservation Areas
of Matabeleland
North.
Our contacts have so far named suspended ZANU-PF
Matabeleland North
chairman Jacob Mudenda, industry and commerce minister
Obert Mpofu and
welfare minister Abednico Ncube. Thandiwe Nkomo, daughter of
the late former
Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, has also been implicated as a
partner in one
area.
The Intensive Conservation Areas (ITA)
were declared by Robert Mugabe
in 1991 to protect the country's fragile Big
Five herd. The area covers all
farms newly occupied by senior ZANU PF
officials in a scramble for prime
properties on either side of the proposed
Matabeleland Zambezi Water
Pipeline. It spreads around Hwange, Gwayi and the
Matetsi conservancies.
Investigations have since revealed
direct trophy poaching which
sometimes involved the use of forged hunting
permits and blank hunting
quotas which do not show the name of the client or
the type and location of
animal to be hunted. In some cases, hippo, giraffe,
lion, and rhino, all
protected from trophy hunting by the 1991 ITA have been
found added on to
the hunt on legally obtained hunt
permits.
Investigations so far show that between 2001 and 2004,
Inyati Safaris,
which is owned by one Ed Kadzombe and lists suspended ZANU
PF Matabeleland
North chairman Jacob Mudenda as a consultant and associate,
was involved in
an illegal hunting permits subletting deal. Inyati loaned
its permits to De
Marillac Safaris, which used the permits to hunt
extensively at Guzu Forest,
an intensive Big Five conservation zone reserved
for photographic safaris.
Zim Africa Safaris, owned by one
Shaun Steyn and listing Thandiwe
Nkomo, daughter of former Vice-President
Joshua Nkomo as a partner, is on a
Department of National Parks confidential
investigations list in connection
with alleged trophy poaching from Dete
Railway Farm 31 between 2001 and
2004. In the same Railway Farm Block,
industry and commerce minister Obert
Mpofu is reported to have offered
numerous hunting concessions to foreign
hunters until the recent hunting
ban.
Mpofu is also linked to the issue of illegal hunting
permits in the
Matetsi Five area near the resort town of Victoria Falls.
Lalapanzi Safaris,
owned by one B. Mutaudzi, is also on the national parks
confidential probe
list in connection with the use of bogus hunting
licences. It is alleged
that between 2001 and 2003, the company used licence
0008, belonging to
Chamankanu Farm on pre-hunts around
Dete.
Lalapanzi is also being probed for using fake names like
Ugere Bo
(Pvt) Limited to obtain pre-hunt permits. It is also alleged to
have used
the trade name Dream Merchant Safaris of Box 56 Dete to conduct
illegal
hunts on behalf of local and foreign hunters in the same period.
Some of the
pre-hunt forms in questions were used blank, in some cases with
crucial
client information and specification of the hunt and hunting area
missing.
In Matabeleland South, deputy public service, labour
and social
welfare minister Abednico Ncube is alleged to have pocketed R7
500 from an
illegal hunt conducted by a band of South African hunters at
Tshabezi Safari
Farm in West Nicholson. The matter came to light when police
arrested the
twelve hunters in July 2003 at Beitbridge border post as they
tried to
export illegal trophies and bush meat.
Investigations traced the meat back to Tshabezi where it was
discovered that
fourteen impala, two kudu, two eland bulls and one
wildebeest had been shot
by the same hunters with the help of war veterans,
who were at that time
occupying the farm on behalf of minister Ncube.
According to
the Wildlife Society of Zimbabwe, one hippo and one
crocodile were also shot
but left in the water at Tshabezi Dam after the
hunters failed to retrieve
the carcasses. The hunters were quickly released
from police custody after
Ncube's personal intervention following their
revelation that they had paid
R7 500 for the hunt to war veterans who said
the money was for the minister
in his capacity as new owner of the safari
area.
The rest,
including four teenagers, were allowed to proceed to SA
while one Mr
Brummer, identified as party leader, remained behind and paid a
fine for
lesser offences before being released a few days latter.
All
concerned ZANU PF officials except Thandiwe Nkomo denied
involvement in
trophy poaching. Ncube also denied intervening to secure the
release of the
South African hunters linked to poaching at Tshabezi Farm.
Mudenda admitted
being an associate of Inyati Safaris but added that the
relationship does
not link him with its daily operations.
Mpofu denied all allegations
and said he had since returned some of
the farms concerned to the State. He
added that he was not aware of being
probed in connection with hunts going
back to the last three
years.
SW Radio
Africa Zimbabwe news
AsianAge.com
Op-Ed
Assembly of hypocrites
- By Nicholas D.
Kristof
The biggest gathering of leaders in history unfolds this
week at the United
Nations, as they preen and boast about how much they're
helping the world's
poor. In short, it may be the greatest assembly in
history of hypocrites.
The fact is that with just a few exceptions, the
Presidents and Prime
Ministers coming to the UN summit are doing a
disgraceful job in helping the
poor. That's one reason the world's richest
500 individuals have the same
income as the world's poorest 416 million
people.
We Americans set a dreadful example as hosts to the summit.
President Bush
has been trying to wriggle away from his 2002 endorsement of
the principle
that rich countries should try to provide 70 cents in official
development
assistance for every $100 in national income. (Mr Bush has
sharply increased
foreign aid from the Clinton years, but it still stood at
only 16 cents in
2004 for each $100 of national income.)
The Bush
administration also tried to change summit documents to downplay
references
to the millennium development goals of overcoming poverty.
Fortunately, the
Bush administration backed off and now grudgingly joins the
international
consensus against infant mortality.
It's common to hear abroad scathing
criticisms of US stinginess, much of it
deserved. But Japan is also a
cheapskate, giving only a hair more than the
US, and Italy gives even
less.
The new Human Development Report 2005, recently issued by the UN
Development
Programme, is blessedly undiplomatic in its willingness to point
figures -
at just about everybody. It notes that the US and other rich
countries seem
unwilling to provide a total of $7 billion annually for the
next decade to
provide 2.6 billion people with access to clean drinking
water. That
investment would save 4,000 lives a day, and the cost is less
than Europeans
spend on perfume - or than Americans spend on cosmetic
surgery.
Meanwhile, the report adds, AIDS kills three million people a
year and
devastates countries like nothing since the Black Death in the 14th
century.
Yet annual world spending to fight AIDS amounts to three days of
military
expenditures.
This UN summit is meant to review the
millennium development goals, such as
cutting child deaths around the world
by two-thirds by 2015. All the goals,
adopted with great fanfare five years
ago, are feasible, and some
countries - from Bangladesh to Indonesia, Brazil
to Mongolia - are on track
to meet them. Hats off to them. But most of the
world appears likely to miss
the goals.
Two countries that should be
the leaders of the developing world, China and
India, are both off track and
should be ashamed of their records. In India,
among children 1 to 5, girls
are 50 per cent more likely to die than boys,
meaning that each year 130,000
Indian girls are discriminated to death.
Bangladesh has now overtaken
India in improving child mortality, and Vietnam
has overtaken China. If
India had matched Bangladesh's rate of reduction in
child mortality over the
last decade, according to the UNDP, it would have
saved 732,000 children's
lives this year.
Likewise, China has largely ignored its poor interior,
so it still loses
730,000 children each year. China has also taken
diplomatic positions that
hurt the world's most vulnerable populations, by
supporting Robert Mugabe in
Zimbabwe and by implicitly endorsing Sudan's
genocide just as it once
endorsed Pol Pot's.
And African leaders?
Perhaps this is naïve, but it strikes me as racist for
them to have
complained about brutal white rule in South Africa or Zimbabwe
while
excusing black rule that is even more brutal.
Readers often ask if I find
it depressing to visit African slums or
mud-brick villages. On the contrary,
it's exhilarating to see how little it
takes to make a difference. Ancient
scourges like river blindness and
leprosy are being controlled, and a clever
initiative by Bill Gates and
others to promote vaccinations (the Global
Alliance for Vaccinations and
Immunisation) saved more than one million
lives just between 2001 and 2004.
That makes it maddening to see leaders
posturing for the cameras at the UN
while, as the UNDP report notes, "the
promise to the world's poor is being
broken." The report adds that the gap
between the current trendline on child
mortality and the one the leaders
committed themselves to amounts to 41
million children dying before their
fifth birthday over the next decade.
Rather than toasting themselves,
these leaders should apologise for this
continuing holocaust.
Kubabtana.net
ZIMBABWE
HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM
The
Aftermath of a Disastrous Venture
A
Follow-up report on “Operation Murambatsvina”
A
report by the
Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum
September
2005
Executive
Summary
This
report is a follow up to the previous Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
preliminary report entitled Order out of
Chaos, or Chaos out of Order? A Preliminary Report on Operation “Murambatsvina”
issued in June 2005.
This
latest report traces developments that have taken place since our June report
and gives an overview of the main consequences of Operation Murambatsvina since it
commenced on 19 May 2005. It also locates the Operation in the context of events
that have happened in Zimbabwe over several years.
The
Vice-President announced on 27 July 2005 that Operation Murambatsvina was now over, following the receipt of the highly
critical report of the UN Special Envoy. This report generally castigated the
Zimbabwe Government for a highly inappropriate programme, and made a number of
specific recommendations.
The
report of the UN Special Envoy was criticised by the Zimbabwe Government on a
number of specious grounds, but the report has been corroborated in virtually
every respect by local Zimbabwean research. Research conducted in the Greater
Harare area by ActionAid International and the Combined Harare Residents
Association indicated that 97% of the sample had been affected adversely by Operation Murambatsvina, and the report
raised significant concerns about a number of vulnerable groups. This research
has now been complimented by a national survey.
Whilst
the Government’s position on further displacements, evictions, and harassment of
informal traders remains unclear, there are reports that indicate that such
actions have continued after the announcement by the Vice-President of the
suspension of Operation Murambatsvina.
Buildings have been demolished, and arrests of vendors continue
unabated.
Significantly,
the report of the UN Special Envoy holds the Zimbabwe Government responsible for
the humanitarian disaster that has followed Operation Murambatsvina, but was unable
to apportion any specific responsibility. However, as this present report
indicates, the scale of the operation must implicate the Government, a number of
Government ministers, Council officials, and the senior management of the
Zimbabwe Republic Police [ZRP].
Whilst
it is evident that the victims have generally had little opportunity to seek
legal redress, and that the Zimbabwe courts have generally been unhelpful, a
recent judgement in the Bulawayo High Court has found that the Zimbabwe Republic
Police [ZRP] were acting unlawfully in the destruction of property and the
confiscation of goods.
It
is evident that many of the concerns raised by the UN Special Envoy are being
dismissed or minimised by the Zimbabwe Government. As this report indicates, the
Zimbabwe Government has a long history of reneging on international agreements,
as was the case around the Abuja Agreement, or failing to respect the
recommendations of international treaty bodies, as was the case with the
recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee in 1998.
When
it is the subject of adverse reports, the Zimbabwe Government has shown a
tendency to vilify and denigrate the authors of such reports, and then resorts
to various delaying tactics in order to prevent discussion of such reports. This
was most clearly exemplified by the events following the submission of a
critical report of a mission of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights. The same trend seems evident in respect of the report of the UN Special
Envoy.
Introduction
This
report is a follow up to the previous Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
preliminary report entitled Order out of
Chaos, or Chaos out of Order? A Preliminary Report on Operation “Murambatsvina”
issued in June 2005.
This
latest report traces developments that have taken place since our June report
and gives an overview of the main consequences of Operation Murambatsvina since it
commenced on 19 May 2005. It also locates the Operation in the context of events
that have happened in Zimbabwe over several years.
This
Operation continued to take place despite pleas by a whole succession of local
and international church bodies and non-governmental organisations for
government to halt it. The Operation continued after the arrival, on 27 June
2005, of the Special Envoy sent by the United Nations to investigate what was
happening, despite a public announcement at that time that the Operation had
ended. It also did not stop after the public release of the highly critical
Report of the Special Envoy on 22 July 2005, in which one of the main
recommendations was that the Operation should immediately be halted. On 27 July
2005, the Acting President Joyce Mujuru announced at a meeting that Operation Murambatsvina was now over. It remains to be
seen whether it has indeed ended, as, on the very day that the Acting President
made this statement, bulldozers knocked down the Kwekwe offices of the main
opposition party, the MDC, with a large number of police and Council officials
looking on.
This
new report takes its title from UN Special Envoy’s apt description of Operation Murambatsvina as “a disastrous
venture.”
Mention
should be at the outset of the blocking by the Zimbabwean Ggovernment of another probe into the Operation
by the African Union Commission’s
Representative. In early July 2005, the African Union
Commission designated a Special Rappoteur of the African
Commission on Human and People’s Rights to
visit Zimbabwe to investigate the impact of the Operation on its behalf.
sent a respected senior official
with the Commission to Zimbabwe to investigate the impact of the Operation.
The Zimbabwean authorities refused to allow him to carry out
his investigations, saying that they were too busy dealing with the visit by the
UN investigator. They also claimed that the African Union
Commission had breached protocol by sending the official without first
notifying the Zimbabwean Government. It is quite clear that the main reason why
the Government blocked this investigation was simply because it feared that the
AU investigator would give an adverse report.
Impact
of Operation Murambatsvina
In
our previous report, the NGO
Forum looked at the human impact of Operation Murambatsvina, the Operation
that commenced on 19 May 2005. That
report described the humanitarian disaster that the Operation had created by
devastating the lives of large numbers of urban people and rendering completely
destitute already poor and highly vulnerable people.
A
number of subsequent reports and statements have strongly corroborated what we
said in our previous report.
The
UN Report
The
foremost report is the exhaustive United Nations report. This is a damning
indictment of Operation
Murambatsvina, an operation that the report refers to as “a disastrous
venture”. It says that the Operation was carried out in “an indiscriminate and
unjustified manner, with indifference to human suffering and, in repeated cases,
with disregard to several provisions of national and international legal
frameworks.” It says further that the Ooperation was conducted with little or no
warning and involved the “wanton destruction of homes, business premises and
vending sites”. The report estimates that some 700 000 people lost their homes
or jobs and that a further 2.4 million people have been affected by the
countrywide campaign and has precipitated “a humanitarian crisis of immense
proportions”. The Secretary-General also declared the Operation to be “a
catastrophic injustice” and has endorsed the report of his Special
Envoy.
One
important aspect of the UN report is the trenchant criticism of the forced
relocation of urban people to rural areas. As pointed out in the previous NGO Forum
report, it is completely unacceptable to force people who live or work in the
urban centres, and who want to continue to stay there, to move to the rural
areas. People should have the freedom to decide where they live and work, and no
one has the right to compel them to relocate to places that they do not wish to
go. In many rural areas, there is no work available, so those relocated there
will be left destitute. Many urban dwellers of foreign origin have no right of
abode in the rural areas. In this regard the
UN Special Envoy says at p.63 of her report
“The
Government’s policy stating that all Zimbabweans have a rural home, and that all
those who have been evicted should return to their rural homes, implies a lack
of freedom to choose one’s own residence. This has particularly serious
implications for those Zimbabweans of foreign origin who have no rural home. The
mission visited Caledonia Camp, which was set up by the Government. The camp
manager confirmed that the residents were waiting to be transported back to
villages.”
Speaking
in Bulawayo during her visit to that city, the UN Special Envoy told Ggovernment officials that demolishing slums to
force the poor back to the countryside was not a solution to the country’s
housing problems. She said that rural repatriation does not work, as, all around
the world, people want to come and work in urban centrescenters, and there was no way in which they can
be forced to live in the countryside.
Additionally,
the Special Envoy pointed out that, prior to Operation Murambatsvina, Zimbabwe was
not regarded as country in which slums were a problem. According to UN-HABITAT,
the percentage of Zimbabweans living in slum-conditions was only 3.4% of the
urban population, a figure much lower than even many industrialised countries.
In
her conclusion the UN Special Envoy has this to say at p
71:
“. .
.the unplanned and over-zealous manner in which the Operation was carried
out has unleashed chaos and untold human suffering. It has created a state of
emergency as tens of thousands of families and vulnerable women and children are
left in the open without protection from the elements, without access to
adequate water and sanitation or health care, and without food security. Such conditions are clearly
life-threatening. In human settlements terms, the Operation has rendered over
half a million people, previously housed in so-called substandard dwellings,
either homeless or living with friends and relatives in overcrowded and
health-threatening conditions. In economic terms, the Operation has destroyed
and seriously disrupted the livelihoods of millions of people who were coping,
however poorly, with the consequences of a prolonged economic crisis.”
We
fully agree with this description of the impact of the Operation. In our
previous report on the Operation, we expressed similar sentiments.
The
ActionAid Report
Another
important document that has recently been published is a report on a study
carried out into the impact of the Ooperation in Harare. An international
non-governmental, organisation, ActionAid, and the Combined Harare Residents
Association [CHRA] conducted this study. These
organisations carried out an extensive survey in 26 out of the 30 high-density
areas of Harare, sampling 81 955 people. According to the report, 97% of
households sampled said they had been affected by the operation in some way.
They have been affected in one or more of these ways: losing accommodation,
losing shelter, losing livelihood or by way of children not attending school.
76% of respondent said they had lost shelter; 79% said they had lost income; 45%
of households reported losses of property and 22% reported school dropouts (but
45% said they would now have financial problems that would stand in the way of
sending their children back to school).
Additionally,
some 60% of households sampled claimed they had become food insecure as a result
of the Operation and just over 20% of people interviewed alleged that they had
observed a deterioration in their loved ones’ health as a consequence of the
displacements. Furthermore, 40% of the respondents, and 82% of child-headed
households, claimed to have been psychologically traumatised by the events.
The
ActionAid/CHRA study also pointed out that the disruption of the informal sector
went far beyond the population of people who lost their homes, as the study
demonstrated that a majority (73%) of urban dwellers were engaged in informal
trading prior to Operation
Murambatvsina. The primary sources of livelihood that have were cited to
have been disrupted (73%) as a result of the Operation from the sample include:
tuck shop ownership (9%), flea market (11%), fruit and vegetable vending (17%),
offering accommodation (18%), cross border trader (6%) and petty trade (5%) such
as sale of firewood.
The
humanitarian programme manager for ActionAid pointed out
“The
bulk of those affected by this operation are invisible and have had to resort to
various coping mechanisms. Those without shelter have had to find support from
relatives who are already living in congested accommodation. Many of those who
lost their livelihoods depend on well-wishers for cash or other entitlements,
since most don’t have any money at all to buy food.”
Statement of Representative of the UN Secretary-General on
the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons
The
Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally
Displaced Persons, Professor Walter Kälin has issued a statement on Operation
Murambatsvina in which he said
this:
"The
Zimbabwean Government's action is incompatible with international law in many
respects. The UN's Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement set forth the
rights of internally displaced persons under international law and the
obligations of States. These Principles are based upon and reflect human rights
obligations also accepted by Zimbabwe. They protect against arbitrary
displacement in the first place and require due process, adequate notice,
appropriate relocation and minimisation of adverse effects. They also require
appropriate provision of the necessities of life to displaced persons,
protection of their property, as well as offer voluntary choices to displaced
persons as to where they will return. On each and every of these points, the
Government of Zimbabwe has fallen far short of its
obligations".
Responsibility
for Operation
In
her report, the UN Special Envoy correctly observes that the
“Government of Zimbabwe is collectively responsible for what has happened”. The
campaign was carried out in the name of the Ggovernment, and at no stage did the Government
dissociate itself from the campaign, or try to put a stop to it. On the
contrary, various the State President and various Government Ministers, as well
as ruling party Members of Parliament, vigorously
supported the programme
and advanced justifications for it. The Special Envoy, however, points out that
there was apparently no collective government decision to undertake this
Operation.
She
observes at p 76:
“Oral
evidence heard from senior Government officials, including Ministers, as well as
subsequent reports in the local press and discussions in the Parliament of
Zimbabwe, suggest that Operation Restore Order was neither conceived
collectively in the Cabinet, nor in the ruling party’s (ZANU PF) Politburo and
Central Committee. It also appears that there is now a division in Zimbabwe’s
political leadership over Operation Restore Order, and that some of the leaders
were caught by surprise when it was suddenly initiated as a police and military
exercise. While the team was in Zimbabwe, one political leader, Mr. Pearson
Mbalekwa, resigned in protest at the Operation from both the Parliament of
Zimbabwe and ZANU-PF’s Central Committee. Some senior ZANU-PF politicians were
also reported to have expressed directly to President Mugabe their concern and
objections to the manner in which the clean-up of cities was being conducted. It
has also been reported in the press that the Minister of Local Government had
written to the Minister of Home Affairs, under whose portfolio the Zimbabwe
Republic Police falls, urging him to stop demolishing houses belonging to
several cooperatives that had been established with the blessing of the Ministry
of Local Government, and were, therefore, ‘legal’.”
The
State President has claimed that the clean-up Operation was planned before the
March 2005 elections, but was put on hold until after the election to avoid any
impression being created that the Ggovernment was clamping down on urban
opposition supporters ahead of the elections. However, a former Cabinet
Minister, who is now an independent Member of Parliament, maintains that this
matter was never discussed at Cabinet or by other party organs before the
election. The campaign was certainly not in any way budgeted for prior to it
being undertaken; the Minister of Finance has had to include as a supplementary
budget item the announced expenditure on the huge building campaign that is
supposed to follow up on Operation
Murambatsvina.
The
UN Special Envoy also says that the people and Government of Zimbabwe should
hold to account those responsible for the injury caused by the Operation.
Exactly
who conceived Operation Murambatsvina
still remains unclear. As stated in our previous report, there must have been
considerable planning and preparation for such a massive country-wide campaign
conducted by the police, and the police must have been given authority by the
government, or by Government Ministers, to carry it out.
The
State President must either have been involved in the planning the overall
nature of the campaign, or must have at least been
informed about the plan and gave his approval. (As indicated above the
President says the campaign had been conceived - presumably with his approval –
prior to the March 2005 election.)
The
UN Special Envoy suggests the campaign “was based on improper
advice by a few architects of the operation.” The
Special Envoy expresses her firm opinion that “Operation Restore Order” was, in all likelihood, implemented on the
basis of improper advice and by over-zealous officials, each with their own
agendas.” She notes that, just before the campaign commenced, the Governor of
the Reserve Bank gave a speech saying that there was a “need to cleanse the
individual rot on the streets of the nation and the need to destroy the shadow
forces in the economy.” In Harare,
the Chairperson of the Harare Commission (the body appointed by the Minister of
Local Government to replace the sacked City Council) gave a speech announcing
the start of the clean-up campaign, and describing in some detail the
far-reaching nature of this campaign.
Apart
from these two officials, the question must be asked who else bears
responsibility for this calamitous campaign? Most mayors of urban councils, such
as Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare, have disowned or distanced themselves from the
campaign. Apart from Harare, the only other head of a council who says he
supported the campaign, and authorized the police action, was the mayor of
Bindura.
Clearly,
the Ministry
in charge of the Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs, must have been involved,
probably influenced by the Governor of the Reserve Bank. The
police fanatically implemented the Operation. The Commissioner of Police and
various police spokesmen enthusiastically endorsed the campaign, and provided
various justifications for it as it expanded to cover more and more areas, and
more and more supposedly illegal activities, such as offices located in urban
areas. The police apparently took the campaign too far, as their action to deal
with settlements on farms occupied during the land invasions and with urban
produce producers was overruled.
Two
particularly zealous proponents of the Operation were the Chairperson of the
Harare Commission and one of the City Council administrators.
Whoever
are the prime movers of this disastrous campaign, what is clear that the head of
State and the Government bear overall responsibility for this campaign, as well
as all individuals who are proven to be the actual architects of the campaign.
Developments
since previous Zimbabwe NGO Forum Report
This
section describes some of the significant events that have occurred since our
preliminary report was issued.
Porta
Farm
Porta
Farm, which is outside Harare, became a transit camp in when the Government
decided to clear away hundreds of poor urban squatters from various locations in
Harare ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in Harare, so that Queen Elizabeth would
not have to see squalor as she went through Harare. This was another Operation Murambatsvina. The Ggovernment later pledged to provide proper
housing for the people at Porta Farm, but this promise was never honoured.
The
transit camp remained and grew, and Porta Farm became an established settlement
as many people transformed plastic shelters into small brick houses. Over the
years, Porta Farm evolved into a stable community with
clinics, primary and secondary schools, pre-schools, and an orphanage.
The
numbers at Porta Farm increased to about 5 000 in 1993 when some of those
evicted, contrary to a court order, from Churu farm settled at Porta Farm. By
2005, the population at Porta Farm had increased to about 12 000 people.
Several
times in the past the authorities have tried to move the squatters from Porta
Ffarm. In 1991, the Harare City Council
threatened to remove the residents. The residents then obtained a provisional
High Court interdict prohibiting the Council from evicting them
until it had found alternative accommodation with the necessary basic services
for them.
In
1995, the Harare City Council again tried to evict the residents. Another High
Court provisional order was obtained preventing the demolishing of houses and
eviction of the residents.
In
August 2004, the Ministry of Local Government then attempted to evict the
residents. A
High Court order was obtained against the Ministry to prevent the eviction.
In
September 2004, the Harare City Council brought an application for an order to
evict the people at Porta Farm. The court refused to grant the order, saying the
1995 High Court order had not been discharged and was still operative.
At
6.00 am, on the morning of 27 June 2005, the police distributed flyers informing
the residents that they would be moved to Caledonia farm the following day, so
they should pack their belongings. The next morning demolitions of shacks and
houses started, an hour after lawyers representing residents had served the
Government with a letter reminding it of the November 2004 court order. The
police were shown copies of the 1995 and 2004 orders, but they ignored them. The
residents reported that the police responded by saying that ”they were not in a
classroom and that they could not read, and that they were not going to obey any
court orders as they are acting on orders from above”. After the evictions
started, an interdict was obtained from the Norton Magistrates Court to try to
stop the evictions. This interdict
was also ignored.
It
is alleged that that three, or possibly four, people died at the Porta Farm as a
result of the evictions. A pregnant woman allegedly died when she fell from a
truck on which she was being taken away, a five-year-old boy was allegedly run
over by a truck, and a terminally ill woman allegedly died when being bundled
into a moving truck.
After
the police had acted in violation of the court orders, the lawyers for the
residents sought to obtain an order holding the police and the City Council
Commission and the Ministry of Local Government in contempt. Without giving any
reasons, the judge refused to grant this order. It is difficult
to see on what possible basis the contempt order was
refused.
On
29 June 2005, the UN Special Envoy’s team visited Porta Farm, and witnessed the
demolitions and the transportation of residents to Caledonia Farm. The mission
said it was shocked by the brutality it witnessed. The next day, the Special
Envoy visited Porta farm again, and saw what she described as a serious
humanitarian crisis with around 1000 evictees sleeping out in the
open.
Many
of the evicted people had nowhere else to live, so they started to return to
Porta Farm, and a large number of people were living among the ruins of their
demolished houses. However, on the morning of 23 July 2005, the police returned
to Porta Farm. The ruins of the houses were bulldozed to ensure that they could
not provide any remaining shelter for the people. The police told the people
that they had to leave the farm by that evening, informing them that they would
be back with police dogs to ensure that they had all left. One 65-year man told
the press that “They broke our houses, and we ran away, but we came back because
we have nowhere else to go. I have been here since I was a child. I have no
rural home. I am looking after five grandchildren here because my daughter died.
I have no rural home, I want to fix the house they destroyed and live here. Help
us please.”
Displaced
persons in Bulawayo
A
series of episodes, during July, in Bulawayo, graphically illustrate the extreme callousness
of the police in relation to displaced persons.
Various
churches were giving shelter and food to several hundred people whose homes had
been destroyed. The police then descended on the churches at dawn, forcibly
removed many of the people, and took them to a holding camp on a farm outside
Bulawayo, called Helensvale. This place had almost no facilities. Barely
twenty-four hours after they had been taken to this camp, the police came to the
holding camp, forcibly removed the inhabitants, and dumped them in various rural
areas. Some street kids previously housed at a church were taken and dumped some
20 kilometres outside Bulawayo. The police must have been under orders to clear
the holding camp without delay. Little or no consideration was given to the
welfare of these destitute people rendered homeless just a few weeks ago, or to
their chances of finding shelter, food, water or other amenities in the famine
stricken areas where they were dumped.
One
of the peoplerson’s dumped in the rural area said he had no
family in the area where he was deposited, nor